Members of One Another
Jesus and Jiu-Jitsu // Devotional #79
In all my years as an athlete, I’ve never experienced a sport as up-and-down as jiu-jitsu. One day, I can feel strong, somewhat knowledgeable, capable, and like I’m getting the hang of things. Then, in a matter of days, it’s like the script has flipped and I’m back to square one, struggling with everything I thought I had a handle on.
To make matters worse, there are guys who started at the same time I did, who’ve kept a similar training regimen, and who intuitively understand where their bodies are positioned and what to do next. They possess a natural inclination and body awareness that I admittedly lack.
On the days when I feel like I’m back at square one and look across the mats at those who seem so much further along in their training, it isn’t hard to imagine hanging up the gi and sitting on the sidelines.
If you’ve been there, you know what it’s like. In these moments, we tend to think, “I’ll never be as good as ____.” Or, “Why is it so easy for them? What do they have that I don’t?” As comparison settles in, it crowds out the joy we used to know, replacing it with frustration and shame.
Because that’s what comparison does. It robs us of both joy and hope by telling us we will never be enough. If comparison can convince us that we will never be as good as someone, have what they have, or be able to do what they do, it has already laid the groundwork to take away the joy that would otherwise be readily available.
Even if we experience something good or make meaningful progress in a particular pursuit, as long as we compare ourselves to others, the gift of joy-filled contentment will always be out of reach. That’s by design. Comparison is content that keeps us convinced we will never have enough, do enough, or be enough.
We often think of comparison in terms of how we view others, but comparison isn’t about others. It’s about us. Comparison is inherently self-centered because it seeks to measure ourselves against others in hopes of finding the validation, approval, and acceptance we so desperately want. Even at the risk of discovering we’re less than, comparison keeps our internal gaze squarely fixed on us.
The bad news is that comparison isn’t limited to athletic pursuits. It’s a disease that quickly spreads to any part of our lives where we are tempted to measure ourselves against others. Nowhere is this disease more destructive than when it infects our relationships in the body of Christ, especially when we compare our gifts with others.
Read how Paul talks about how our gifts are designed to operate together in Romans 12:1-8:
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Don’t miss the connection Paul is making here as he weaves together our individual gifts within the broader context of the body of Christ. He begins this section in verse 1 by drawing our attention to the reality that worship is both individual and corporate, when he says, “present your bodies (plural) as a living sacrifice (singular), holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Our worship isn’t just an individual pursuit between God and us. And it isn’t just singing. Worship is our corporate response to who God is and what He’s done, expressed by what we say, sing, and how we live. It is what we do together as the body, or corpus, of Christ in response to Christ, including how we use and think about our gifts.
Whereas the world, the flesh, and the devil want to warp our minds so we live as the little gods of our own domain, in Christ, God is renewing our minds so we can live not for our will but for His (v. 2), living lives of worship where we use our gifts for His glory.
It’s in our small, self-centered domains that comparison thrives because we are always sizing up anyone who might threaten our rule. So when it comes to our gifts, if our gaze is fixed inward, we will see others’ gifts as threats to be dealt with rather than gifts to be celebrated.
As long as we’re living by the world’s standards, comparison will take even the joy our gifts were meant to produce. This is why Paul writes in verse 3 that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but rather according to the measure of faith we’ve been given. The only thing that counts for anything isn’t what we’ve done, but faith in what Christ has done for us.
On the other side of glory, there are no medals to earn or trophies to raise, and no scoreboard to compare ourselves with others. There is only the limitless grace of God, given to needy sinners, which bids all to come and find life at the foot of the cross. And there will be only One name lifted above all other names.
But here, Paul is pleading with us to have our minds renewed, not to see ourselves in light of how we measure up to others, but rather to see ourselves in the light of Christ, living for His kingdom rather than for ours. Only by renewing our minds to live as new creatures under a new kingdom can we set aside our preoccupation with self and learn to see ourselves, others, and our gifts as God intends.
When we see ourselves in light of Christ, as members of His body and His kingdom, we can freely lay down comparison, knowing that our gifts aren’t for us; they’ve been given for the glory of God and the good of others. As Paul writes in verses 4-5:
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
When we stop comparing, we can finally participate in the body of Christ as God intended: as members of one another. Whereas comparison divides, grace unites. As we see our gifts as conduits of the grace we’ve been given, we can let them be used in unison with those around us, as active members of the body, working together for His kingdom and celebrating the gifts of grace He’s given to each of us.
What God can accomplish through the body is far greater than what even the most gifted individual can do alone. What might God do through us if we looked up from our preoccupation with self and began to see ourselves as He does? We’d see that God, who doesn’t need us, chooses to include us so that we might participate in His plan to redeem all things in Jesus.
Take time to consider these questions:
When are you most tempted to compare yourself to others?
How does comparison divide us from one another? How does grace unite us as “members of one another”?
When you consider your gifts, how might God use them in concert with the gifts He’s given others around you?
As you end your time, praise God for the gifts He’s given you and for the ways He’s uniquely wired you to participate in His kingdom. Confess the ways you’ve compared yourself to others, whether out of envy or by looking down on them. Ask for a heart that sees you, your gifts, and others as part of the broader body of Christ.
